Many patients who have been examined for thyroid nodules will be advised to have a fine needle aspiration, so let’s not get anxious and scared. Why is fine needle aspiration necessary? Is this operation dangerous?
I. What is thyroid puncture?
Thyroid puncture is a simple procedure in which cells from the thyroid lump are aspirated into a syringe using a fine needle. The aspirated cells are evenly smeared onto a slide, stained and prepared for examination under a microscope, and a pathologist makes a cytologic diagnosis and issues a written report based on the cell smear. The current technique of ultrasound-guided puncture is completely dynamic monitoring, precise positioning, accurate puncture, and simple and rapid operation. Therefore, ultrasound-guided aspiration biopsy has become the most common method for preoperative pathological diagnosis of the thyroid gland.
Why is fine needle aspiration necessary?
Thyroid nodules are relatively common diseases in clinical practice, among which are thyroid adenoma, nodular goiter and thyroid cancer. Sometimes it is difficult to determine their nature by history and clinical examination to provide an exact preoperative diagnostic basis, which poses difficulties in the choice of surgery, and the choice of surgical procedure directly affects the outcome. FNAC is a simple, easy to perform and highly accurate test that is mainly used for differential diagnosis of thyroid nodules, distinguishing benign from malignant lesions.
Which patients need fine needle aspiration?
Fine needle aspiration of the thyroid gland is recommended for the following patients.
(1) Nodules >10mm in diameter;
(2) Ultrasound findings, regardless of size, of nodules with extraperitoneal growth or abnormal cervical lymph nodes;
(3) History of neck radiation in childhood or adolescence;
(4) First-degree relatives of differentiated thyroid cancer, MTC or MEN2;
(5) Previous thyroid cancer surgery;
(6) Elevated calcitonin levels without interfering factors;
(7) Those with a diameter of <10 mm with a predisposition to malignancy on ultrasound or with ≥2 risk factors for suspected malignancy on ultrasound;
(8) Nodules that increase in size by more than 50% or increase in maximum diameter by more than 20% during follow-up;
(9) nodule height > transverse diameter; cystic nodule solid part > 50% and nodule diameter > 20mm.
IV. Is the puncture operation dangerous?
Any invasive operation involves certain risks. Of course, fine-needle aspiration under ultrasound guidance can precisely locate the tumor and avoid damaging the surrounding tissues at the same time, which greatly reduces the risk of puncture. At the same time, domestic and foreign studies have clearly shown that fine needle aspiration does not lead to tumor dissemination, therefore, fine needle aspiration is a safe and feasible examination technique.
V. What do patients need to pay attention to?
There are no special precautions for patients who need to undergo fine needle aspiration.
It is generally recommended that
1.Pay attention to clean the skin of the neck and remove all neck ornaments so as not to hinder the operation.
2.Cooperate with the doctor’s requirements during the operation, relax and do not be nervous.
3.Avoid swallowing and other movements during the operation to avoid accidental injury to the trachea, blood vessels and other tissues in the neck.
4.After puncture, you need to put pressure on the bandage and leave the hospital after 30 minutes of observation and rest.
How much does a fine needle puncture cost?
Pathological examination is required for thyroid puncture, and the total cost of puncture and pathological examination is only a few hundred dollars.